Tar Sands Free Northeast Demonstration in Portland, ME

January 26, 2013

January 26, 2013

Today in Portland, Maine over 2,000 New Englanders converged in what was the biggest demonstration against tar sands the Northeast has seen. The convergence followed a week of escalating demonstrations against Enbridge and ExxonMobil throughout the Northeast and parts of Canada to bring attention to the proposed Trailbreaker project which would bring tar sands oil through sensitive ecological regions of Canada, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine for shipment overseas.

Photos by Wen Stephenson

The demonstration included a speech by US Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, who said the Trailbreaker project “would pose serious environmental risk” and would, on behalf of her consituents, “ask the Obama administration to do a full environmental review of any attempts to pump tar sands through that old pipeline.” Check out her statement below!

The rally finished with an inspiring call to action by Boston University graduate student Ben Thompson, one of the “Westborough 8” who, on January 7th, 2013, locked down and glued themselves together at a TransCanada office in Westborough, MA.

The Houston banner was hung on an overpass above I-59, and highlights the Enbridge (“Where oil meets water”) July 2010 Kalamazoo river spill, which over two years later is still not cleaned.

In Denton, students at the University of North Texas dropped a beautiful banner in their student union in solidarity with the thousands who rallied today with Tar Sands Free Northeast in Portland, Maine: